


shower thoughts

by merrylarry



Series: 99 problems, and they're all their own faults [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Arguing, Hurt Stephen, M/M, break up fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 20:10:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15008489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrylarry/pseuds/merrylarry
Summary: After a fight, Stephen adds up every little thing, and makes an inevitable decision.





	shower thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> Why is it that I keep writing shitty angsty almost break up fics you may be wondering. Maybe it's to cope with the car crash I was in yesterday, idk. I'm trying not to pull a Stephen and join a cult in another country, but we'll see. 
> 
> Anyways, ignore my personal oversharing and enjoy!
> 
> As always, my Tumblr is @god-doesnt-talk-to-us and I'm ALWAYS taking prompts or suggestions, so hmu.

_“Tony, please, come to bed. You’ve been working down here all day.”_ **  
**

“In a little bit, I’m busy right now,”  Tony responded.  

Stephen huffed. “Of course you are. You always are, aren’t you? Spending time with someone who loves you just isn’t significant enough, is it? Laying in bed together talking about our days doesn’t win awards though, so why would you waste your time doing it?” Stephen began to ramble off his internal monologue and he regretted it as soon as Tony responded.

“Sorry for trying to change the world and save thousands of lives. My bad,” Tony replied sarcastically. “God, I can’t believe you have the audacity waltz into my ‘me space’ and complain about what I do here.”

“Maybe if you actually put some fucking effort into this relationship, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” Stephen yelled.

“I don’t put effort in? You haven’t even tried talking to me in over a week!”

“It’s because I didn’t want to fight with you! Can’t you tell that this is only hurting the both of us?” Stephen asked.

“I think this is actually quite eye-opening. It proves that you’re too weak to even try something that might be hard.” Stephen stilled. He blinked at Tony a few times, his mouth slightly ajar.

“It’s not really that easy, Tony. You lock yourself away down in your workshop and I know how much your work means to you, and I feel like shit if I take you away from it. I fucking know how comforting familiar things are, but you have to try to get back into the regular swing of things,” Stephen said.

Tony scoffed. “I’m not your little community service project. I’m not something that you get to try to fix to make yourself feel better.”

“Don’t you think I know that? You’re not the only person that’s fucking broken here, Tony. You’re not the only one that’s lost it all. Maybe if you ever thought of someone other than yourself you would know that.” And with that, Stephen stormed upstairs and locked the door to their bedroom.

 

* * *

 

 

The emptiness of the other side of the bed was overwhelming. It had been almost two days since Stephen had left Tony there in the workshop. Neither had left their respective areas of the house. Stephen woke up on the second morning without Tony and rolled over onto his back in the middle of the bed.

“Jarvis, has Tony eaten in the past 48 hours?” Stephen asked to the air.

“Mr. Stark has requested that all information on his health and wellbeing be withheld until further notice.” Stephen sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.

“Has he left the workshop?” Stephen tried.

“Yes. Mr. Stark is currently off the premises.” Great, Stephen thought. Just great.

Stephen desperately wanted to chase after him and just be near him again. Sure, he hadn’t slept next to him in over a week, but it was a mutual thing before their fight. Stephen had always understood that Tony was committed to his work, but now he finally allowed himself to feel lonely. He had held back these feelings for weeks, but now there was no reason to keep them in.

He sighed and rolled to the side of the bed and stood up. He was wearing the same clothes he had worn the night of the argument and he smelled awful. He walked to the adjoining bathroom and placed his hands on the edge of the sink and looked at himself in the mirror.

His hair was greasy and disheveled and the bags under his eyes seemed to have gotten darker. His eyes themselves looked duller than usual. He moved to the shower and turned on the hot water. He waited as the water warmed to a comfortable temperature before he stepped in.

As the warm water flowed from his hair to his back, he let out a sigh.

In the beginning of his relationship with Tony, he rarely spent a shower alone. It didn’t always turn sexual - sometimes it was just nice to have someone to spend a few intimate moments with. Stephen would shampoo Tony’s hair, and Tony would talk about whatever was on his mind at the time.

It was those little things that Stephen had grown to miss over the past few days. It’s not like he wanted a big showing of Tony’s love for him, he just wanted him to be next to him. Because that would be enough. Enough to keep happy and enough to keep him around.

This wasn’t the first of their fights revolved around Tony’s seemingly endless work. And each time, they would apologize to each other and talk things over. And never once did the idea of leaving cross Stephen’s mind. Now, though, leaving was the thought that had become a permanent fixture in the back of his mind.

Even when Tony was having a good day and hadn’t locked himself away to work, the thought was still there.

And so, as Stephen showered, the thought was given room to grow in his mind. The longer he stayed under the water the more thought he gave the idea. Stephen couldn’t tell if it was the water from the shower or his own tears that began to pool at his eyes. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face.

He never used to give his shower thoughts much merit, but this was an idea that he would be able to remember once he left the bathroom. It wouldn’t slip away like his other creative ideas over the years. This one would stick around, whether Stephen wanted it to or not.

As Stephen shut the water off and got out of the shower, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He used his hand to wipe the steam from the mirror and he looked at himself just as he had done before the shower. However this time, he looked diferent. He felt different.

The Stephen he looked at now wasn’t in love anymore. He just existed. He went through the daily motions as he hoped that things would change and that the love would return.

Deep down, he knew that even if it did, it would never be like it was before. And maybe that’s what it would take for things between him and Tony to work. Something new, something different.

_If it came back at all._


End file.
